These articles are published in the Slough Town FC programme. The Rebels play in the Southern Premier - just seven leagues below the Premier League. I’ve been supporting Slough since the beginning of time despite now living in Brighton. After nearly 14 nomadic years we finally have a brand spanking new home in Slough.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

PLANE STUPID

Printed in the Southern League Central Division game v
AshfordTown on Saturday
10th November 2012. We won 6-1 in front of 234. Next stop: Mansfield
Town in the FA Cup

You would hope that when a group of people come
together and volunteer to run a local football club for their community they
would get the support from those that are meant to represent them. AshfordTown is one of those friendly little clubs
in our league that I enjoy going to, who do things the right way on a limited
budget and small crowds.

So it must have felt like a real vote of confidence when
their local MP thought it would be a good idea to say that an airport runway
should be plonked on their ground!

Eton
educated Dr.Kwasi Kwarteng heads the “Free Enterprise Group”, which published a
paper that wants two more runways for HeathrowAirport. They want to resurrect
plans for a shelved third runway at Sipson and the destruction of Stanwell and
Bedfont to make room for a fourth runway. Apparently good for economic growth
but not so good for the 12,000 people who live in Stanwell and Bedfont whose
houses would be demolished.

The
MP didn’t even have the courtesy or contacting the club first; that was left to
a Sunday newspaper.

Despite
being called AshfordTown the club are based in Stanwell and as
you would expect aren’t best pleased “We are surprised that the Member of
Parliament for Spelthorne has put his name to a report that proposes demolishing
a large part of his constituency. We
acknowledge the importance of HeathrowAirport to the local and national economy,
but do not subscribe to the view that this should be an overriding concern, to
the exclusion and ultimate destruction of the local community. This proposal would not just obliterate
Stanwell and Bedfont, but also blight Ashford and Feltham for many years. We do not believe that is a price worth
paying.”

While the threat to the ground might not be immediate, the
long gestation period of a project creates its own problems. Sipson is still
blighted by the third runway, years after the announcement that it wouldn’t
happen. Should the new plan gain any momentum, it will be impossible for
AshfordTown to obtain grant
funding for facilities because funding bodies will just say ‘we’re not paying
for something that could be a home for planes in a few years.’

It’s not just AshfordTown that would cease to exist. You can
also wave goodbye, to Ashford Cricket Club, Hockey club, Bedfont Sports,
BedfontTown and Feltham. Not that
there would be any resident homes to support the clubs anyway.

Gareth Coates, general secretary of Ashford Town FC, said: “I
don’t feel an MP should write a report advocating the demolition of a great
portion of his seat. It is astonishing that we have been earmarked as a
potential runway. An MP should be representing his constituents and I fail to
see how relocating 10,000 residents plus the club and demolishing their homes is
in any of their interests.”

As
is usual in the scheme of these things, the people that come up with these plans
don’t live next to motorways and airports. Although they always seem to shout
the loudest when a wind turbine might ‘blight’ their country views.

Kwarteng
has also co-authored a book, ‘Britannia Unchained’ which claims that
"Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the
world." It's funny how the people telling other people to work long hours doing
rubbish jobs aren't the ones who have to do them. In this case, it comes from a
man who spends his time as an MP and writing book sat on his arse for most of
the day.